Building flashing



April 8, 1941.

G. W. ORTH ET AL BUILDING FLASHING INVENTOR.

Y 6502 5 M kzaszr Patented Apr. 8, 1941 BUILDING FLASHING George W. Orth, Philadelphia, and Herbert P.

Orth, Merwood, Pa.

Application December 29, 1939, Serial No. 311,460

3 Claims.

This invention has to do with metallic flashings which are now widely employed in the masonry walls of building constructions.

Flashings of the character above-noted are commonly employed in the mortar of the masonry wall and it is of. essential importance that the flashing, in the flrstinstance, prevent water seeping or leaking down through the wall, and it is also necessary thatthe flashing be held against movement in the mortar bed. This primary purpose of the flashing, to prevent water and moisture seeping down through the wall past the flashing, is readily accomplished by having the flashing extend entirely across the wall.

In order to hold the flashing against movement in the mortar bed it has been the practice to avail of mechanical key bonding for preventing movement of the flashing. This bonding ordinarily includes grooves in the flashing which extend transversely across the wall, thus preventing movement of the flashing in a direction substantially parallel to the faces of the wall. In order to guard against transverse movement of the flashing, that is, in a direction normal to the faces of the wall, it has been necessary to supplement the mechanical key bonding of the aforesaid grooves in some manner and this invention has in view, as an important object, the provision of a novel manner of preventing movement of the flashing in a direction normal to the faces of the wall.

In providing the aforesaid mechanical key bonding it is necessary to insure of adequate and efficient drainage of water from the flashing so that water will not collect at any places in the wall structure where its freezing would constitute a serious hazard. It has been recognized in this art that transverse grooves constitute good and eficient drainage channels and it has been the practice to avail of them for that purpose and the present invention does not propose to depart from this well-accepted practice. However, in many instances, the provision of a structure which will provide the mechanical key bonding that prevents the transverse movement of the flashing has resulted in a flashing structure which presents the grave possibility of water collecting therein and the likelihood of serious damage to the wall structure resulting therefrom. This invention has in view, as its foremost objective, the elimination of this latter possibility.

More in detail, this invention has in view, as an object, the provision of a building flashing of the character above-noted which is formed with the transverse grooves aforesaid and which grooves are enlarged at spaced intervals with the enlarged portion of the grooves having bottoms that are no lower than the lowermost portion of the main part of the grooves. These enlargements or recesses which communicate with the grooves provide the mechanical key bonding that prevents movement of the flashing in the mortar bed in a direction normal to the faces oi the wall. By having these enlargements or recesses in communication with the grooves the latter act as eiflcient drainage channels for the enlargements, this being particularly true when the proper relation between the bottoms of the enlargements and the bottoms of the grooves is maintained.

Various other more detailed objects and advantages of the invention will in part become apparent and in part be hereinafter stated as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention, therefore, comprises a building flashing which is designed to be incorporated in the mortar of the masonry wall structure and which consists of a piece of sheet metal formed with transverse grooves that are disposed substantially normal to the faces of the wall structure when the flashing is in position therein. The flashing is also formed with recesses that communicate with the grooves and which, preferably, take the form of spaced enlargements in the grooves.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description and accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is. a perspective View of a portion of a masonry wall with the novel flashing of this invention incorporated therein,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a piece of the flashing per se,

Figure 3 is a view in end elevation of a piece of flashing shown in Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken about on the plane represented by the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts, a masonry wall is shown in Figure 1 and is referred to in its entirety by the reference character W. This wall W is representative of any well-known type of masonry wall structure and, as illustrated, comprises a plurality of bricks II] which are held together by the mortar represented at H. One layer of the bricks l 0 is represented at Ill and the layer of bricks immediately thereabove is represented at lll Between the layers Ill and 10 is a bed of the mortar II which is designated I l Embedded in this mortar bed H is an. improved flashing of this invention which is referred to in its entirety by the reference character F.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the flashing F is shown as being made from an appropriate sheet metal such as copper, the main body portion of the flashing F being designated i2. Extending transversely across the main body portion I2 are a plurality of grooves l3. It will be noted that when the flashing F is positioned in the mortar bed Il the grooves l3 will take a direction substantially normal to the faces of the wall W. In this position mortar of the bed'll will enter in the grooves l3 and thus provide a mechanical key bonding which prevents movement of the flashing in a direction parallel to the faces of the Wall W.

The main body portion I2 is also formed with a plurality of recesses 44 which communicate with the grooves i3. These recesses l4 preferably take the form of spaced enlargements in the grooves l3 and the mortar of the bed I l when received therein, cooperates to provide mechanical key bonding that holds the flashing F against movement in a direction normal to the faces of the wall W.

It is important to note that not only do the recesses or enlargements l4 communicate with the grooves l3, but the bottoms of these enlargements in no instances assume a position lower than the bottoms of the grooves 13; thus, assurance is had that the latter will act as efficient drainage channels for these recesses or enlargements I4.

While the flashing F above-described ordinarily will be installed in a position depicted in Figure 1, it is to be understood that it is also usable in a reverse or inserted position. It is also notable that while the flashing F is illustrated as terminating in edges which lie substantially in the faces of, the wall W they might well terminate in upwardly or downwardly turned flanges in accordance with what is now conventional practice in this art.

While the grooves l3 may assume any appropriate shape they are herein illustrated as being of a curved cross-section. The recesses l4 have flat bottoms which lie in substantially the same plane as the bottom of the curved grooves l3.

While a preferred specific embodiment of the invention is hereinbefore set forth it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact constructions illustrated and described, because various modifications of these details may be provided in putting the invention into practice, within the purview of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A building flashing of the character described comprising a piece of sheet metal formed with a transversely extending key bonding and drainage groove, said piece of sheet metal also being deformed to provide spaced key bonding enlargements in the sides of said groove, the bottom of said enlargements being no lower than the bottom of said groove to insure of drainage from said enlargements into said groove.

2. A building flashing of the character described comprising a piece of sheet metal formed with a plurality of transversely extending key bonding and drainage grooves, said piece of sheet metal also being formed with a plurality of key bonding recesses communicating with said grooves at the sides thereof, the bottoms of said recesses being no lower than the bottoms of said grooves to insure of drainage from said recesses into said grooves.

3. A building flashing of the character described comprising a sheet of metal formed with a plurality of transversely extending and spaced key bonding and drainage grooves, a key bonding recess extending transversely from each of said grooves toward an adjacent groove and in the same direction from the plane of said sheet metal as said grooves and in drainage communication with one of said grooves so as to provide open drainage channels throughout the width of said sheet on opposite faces thereof when either face of said sheet is in superposed relation to the opposite face.

GEORGE W. ORTI-I. HERBERT P. ORTH. 

